Park Benches

It was another hot one today. I go through clothes like crazy… they get so wet and smelly in this heat and humidity. Because I’ve been doing painting and real nasty stuff, I’ve not been wearing my Utilikilt. Dirt I can handle as well as the fading that is occurring. But, I draw the line with paint spatters and all!

Hanging out the laundry I was amazed by all the butterflies feasting on the lantana in my back yard. That reminds me… the other day not long after I had painted the front porch floor; I was saddened to see a dragonfly trapped on his back, his wings stuck to the sticky paint. Ever so carefully I was able to pry him off the floor and he took right off! That made my day!

Chasing the butterfly trying to get a picture I never paid attention to the “tighty whities” hanging on the line!

Feasting on the lantana:

I need to get another gallon of floor paint for the second coat. I get the Benjamin Moore oil based stuff which is supposed to be the best. After all the prep work I’ve done, it is foolish to scrimp and get cheap finishing materials. But, for a gallon of paint and a roller to ring in at some $70.00 does seem to be a bit dear to me!

This afternoon I was back in time as I painted up the bench that resides on the porch. The story behind that bench…..

I bought the bench in May of 1988 from a home improvement chain at appeared briefly in our area. It was called “Busy Beaver” and I don’t think they were open more than a few months. The bench was an import from China. The cast iron ends are very roughly finished. It seemed that for this period of time this bench was a “loss leader” at the all home improvement and big drug store chains. Every week store ads had this bench advertised with the retail price of $99.00 slashed to $49.95. Such a deal…

When I ran a clincher with my good friend Al, we used to hang out in the break room once we got our rates out. We could really annoy “the boys”. Poor Charlie called us Dumb and Dumber! We used to pick out a topic and keep at it for weeks on end. Somehow our topic came to be that model park bench with the cast iron ends the summer of 1988.

Here is a reenactment of the conversation we would have every day in the break room as I remember it:

Jamie: Hi Al, how was your weekend?

Al: It was busy. I got a park bench.

Charlie: Just sitting…. rolling his eyes trying not to listen.

Jamie: Oh wow, they sell for over $100.00 don’t they?

Al: Oh yes, but I found it on sale at Valu for $49.95

Brick: Did you ever get a deal… was it hard to put together?

Charlie: His face is starting to tighten up……

Al: It was murder, you are supposed to have two people for the assembly, and all I had helping was my daughter Missy, so I just had one and a half…..

At this point Charlie would throw his book down and stomp out of room saying “You guys drive me crazy!!!”

Al and I would then act so shocked. If we were lucky the other guys would laugh, or they could be in the mood to take a “contract” out on us which meant we would get roughed up a bit!!! We were all so crazy and carefree back then….

The wood slats on those benches were not the best quality. When I was dismantling the bench in 1996 for the move south, the wood was all rotten.

Those iron ends were in my workshop for years. Then I heard Smooch got himself a table saw and he was ripping up a bunch of wood. He said he would be glad to rip me up some slats for the bench. I made the bench 6 feet long so I can stretch out on it if I want.

Once again, something as simple as the bench on my porch can trigger a flood of memories. I was back with Al and boys as I painted up the bench this afternoon under the carport….it was good…..